someone needs to plug the WikiLeak

Today, the US is in scramble mode due to a website called Wikileaks. For the uninitiated, Wikileaks has been gathering secret, unpublished documents from the US and publishing them for the world to see. Previously, the site released secret documents somehow obtained from the US military, documenting information, negotiations, and unmentioned concerns about the war in Afghanistan. This past weekend, they went one better, releasing thousands of cables (think secure emails) from diplomatic sources around the world, exposing a lot of opinions that were best kept under wraps. In short, when people are making cracks at other world leaders–referring to them as “weak,” “easily swayed,” “useless,” and even comparing them to Batman and Robin–it can tend to ruffle feathers.

Further, a number of things the US wanted to keep under wraps now come to light. Like how US allies wanted the US to take out the Iranian nuclear facility. Or how the King of Saudi Arabia did not want the US to invade Iraq and take down Saddam because the US and Saudi Arabia, along with Saddam’s help, had been able to keep Iran in check. Even negotiations about a missile shield in Europe came out–which showed that President Obama has not trouble playing hardball behind the scenes.

One politician even called WikiLeaks a “terrorist organization.” It will be interesting to see how much damage the site can end up doing to the US and its Middle East efforts.